How to import videos from Canon's F100 Camcorder to a Mac?

Question

I just bought a camcorder (Canon's F100) and it said it was Mac compatible, but when I hooked it up, I could only download pictures, but no videos. It found all the pictures I had, but I have no idea how to find the videos or why it wouldn't....can somebody help please, I need it for vacation!!!

Answer 1

Get a FireWire cable...that should solve it, if you've only tried a USB cable as of now.

Answer 2

There is no "Canon F100".

There is a Canon FS100 that is a standard definition camcorder that uses removable SD flash memory cards which store highly compressed MPEG2 files.

There is a Canon HF100 that is a high-definition camcorder that uses removable SD flash memory cards which store highly compressed AVCHD files.

The easiest way is to take the memory card out of the camcorder and use a card reader to copy the video data files off.

In the case of the FS100, you will most likely need to download and install http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/vi... and convert that video for editing.

In the case of the HF100, only the most current iMovieHD or FinalCut (Express or Pro2) can deal with highly compressed AVCHD video... Not that it matters, but Microsoft MovieMaker can't deal with AVCHD files at all...